Generational Differences

Where one or more are gathered…differences will arise. I’m guessing the family in the stock photo to the left, are all harmony and sparkles. But in the Westerberg tribe…

I had to make an unexpected trip to New Mexico (Mom had two hospital visits in a three week period – things are better) and then had to rush back to present at the ITA Fall Collaborative.

During the Collaborative I was following the ITA #itaf11 stream and saw that my friend Ed Kless had tweeted the following: Oh no, here it comes, the gratuitous reference to generations in the workplace. This is the astrology of business today!

Fresh off of a visit with my extended family, I knew that while astrology for business, in the arena of family gatherings, generational differences are alive and well…and humorous.

Here are a number generational differences I noticed:

Phones – landlines, cell phones and refusing to answer the phone.

Thermostat – Hatching baby chicks warm or energy/money saving low? Does your family battle it out, respect the host’s preference or wait for a moment when no one is looking to change it?

Preferred TV volume levels – some want to hear the audio regardless of what room they’re in, while others would welcome an opportunity to hear themselves think.

Scrabble rules and etiquette – fresh off blood sugar and heart problems my mother manages to beat me by 100 points. I realize it’s bad form to storm out of the rehab center – doesn’t mean I didn’t want to. Especially when I had called off the dogs on the previous game and didn’t pile on when I had a 30 point lead.

What are the generational differences you’ve noticed? Please share them in the comments section.